Chapter 65: The Trapped Adventurer II

【84th day】

It appeared that the god in question liked curry very much.

It was the curry with Ea’s spicy blend of spices in it too.

What’s curious is that Misuranika-sama and Gladvain-sama were acquainted. They only said a few words, but I sensed a familiarity in the way they spoke to each other.

Despite the fact that she is my god, I still don’t know much about Misuranika-sama. Even thought her name has remained on the old gold coins, she is little-known to an abnormal degree. To the extent that it feels intentional.

In the past, were there people who had become her follower like me?

Where are they now, I wonder. It bothers me, but I pulled back because it smells like something I should avoid.

Everyone invariably has a past that they don’t want others to know about. That’s true for Rana, and for me as well. For gods, that probably runs deep. In some cases, simply knowing that past is enough to lead to one’s death.

On a subtly unrelated note, Lanseal said,

『Souya, you smell of an unfamiliar woman. Who is she?』

『Huh? Err……』

『Who, on, earth, is, she?』

Lanseal, who had a smile on her face, was scary. I feared for my life. What should I do about this?

I’ll have to apologize in various ways to Tyutyu as well.

Before that, the one whom I need to apologize to, or rather, reconcile with, is Rana.

We hadn’t talked at all yesterday.

She didn’t say a word during meals, took no refills and offered no impressions. She didn’t drink even one cup of alcohol.

There’s a reason for why I’m dragging my feet.

I want to take action first, and then connect those actions to words. I wonder if I’m just being selfish.

We did sort of sleep in the same tent today, but as usual, my sister and Misuranika-sama came, and for some reason, so did Lanseal. We slept packed together like sardines.

Though I hadn’t expected to, I had a good night’s sleep.

I woke up.

After having a light breakfast, we went into the city, collected the things from the merchant company, and then met up with Shuna and Lys at the dormitory.

We arrived at the 1st floor of the dungeon, the Adventurers’ Guild.

There, we met up with Frey, Lazarissa and Gashuraku-san, but Rana remained calm and didn't say anything. She didn’t even pull a long face. She also completely ignored Frey's greeting. It was really early in the morning, so there were no parties there except us.

Evetta-san hadn't come to work yet, so I submitted the application form for clearing the dungeon to another Guild employee.

Then, we dived through the portal and went to the 15th floor.

Our current party was me, Rana, Ea, Shuna, and Lys(Bel).

The other party was Frey, Lazarissa, and Gashuraku.

In addition,

「Everyone, this person is a helper who’s joining us just this once」

「I’m Medimu. Looking forward to working together」

Including Otou-san, these nine were the members of this adventure. We were a huge party.

Although it was only three day’s worth, the amount of food was quite considerable. Normally, it would be divided among everyone, but this time, other than the emergency rations, I had Lazarissa carry all of it. The backpack she carried was filled to bursting.

「Souya-sama. What kind of relationship do you have that you’re able to get that person to help?」

Lazarissa was surprised when she saw Otou-san.

「Lazarissa, you know this Oji-sama?」

It seemed that Frey didn't know him at all.

「Ojou-sama, this person is the famous Medimu-sama, the father of adventurers. He is someone who has his name recorded even in the biographies of the valiant warriors of the center continent」

「Oh, so he’s a famous adventurer. My name is Frey・Dis・Gastolfo. On this occasion, I look forward to your guidance」

「Ga, Gastolfo……」

In a rare turn of events, Otou-san had a panicked expression on his face. He pulled me by the arm away from the party.

Otou-san and I whispered to each other in hushed tones.

（Souya! I didn’t hear anything about a Gastolfo coming along!）

（That’s because I didn’t mention it. Her personality is like that, but as a magician, she’s strong, you know? The maid accompanying her is also pretty skilled）

（Don’t ever talk about Eldalia or our brothel, got it?）

If I'm not mistaken, Eldalia is the proprietress of the『Mansion of the Sleep Demon and the Goddess of Fertility』. I’ve only met her once, but Otou-san and her are lovers.

（I understand, but why?）

If I don't ask about it now, in the worse case, I might be placed in an awkward situation later.

（Roomen is the younger sister god of Gastolfo. They’re on extremely bad terms. And Eldalia’s name was once Marcia・Melua・Gastolfo. She abandoned her family name because she hates their way of doing things. Even though I've avoided getting involved with the Gastolfos for the longest time, why did you drag one along?）

（I didn’t know. It's a coincidence. Even if you ask me something like that, I don’t know what to say）

The not particularly interesting secret talk ended.

We turned ourselves around and I introduced everyone to Otou-san.

「This is Frey-sama, who has the title of Brave, and her attendants, Lazarissa and Gashuraku-san」

「Gashuraku-dono is, hmm? By any chance——」

「Gashuraku-san is a dwarf」

「Now, hang on a minute, he is——」

As could be expected, he had been recognized.

It’s impossible to fool someone with deep insight after all

「He’s a dwarf. Otou-san, recently, the number of customers at the store is――」

「He’s a dwarf, I see」

「That’s right, he’s a dwarf」

「I’m a dwarf~」

I’ll apologize if I meet a real dwarf.

「Next, my party is Rana, Ea, Shuna, and Be………Lys」

「Hmm, the look on your faces have changed in the short while since I last saw you guys. Especially you, girl, I can't say that it's a good change though」

「………………」

Lys turned her face away from him.

「I’ve learned everyone's faces. So, Souya, what’s the plan?」

At Otou-san’s prompting, I explained the plan in broad strokes to everyone.

「First, Ea and me will scout for enemies and conduct reconnaissance-in-force[1]. Otou-san and Shuna, the two of you will be at the head of the formation during battle. Lys, you’ll be behind them. Protect Rana and Frey」

「………Understood」

For once, Lys replied immediately.

「Lazarissa, watch our back, and Gashuraku-san, watch our flanks. The formation will change depending on the fluctuations of each person’s stamina, and as the things we’re carrying reduces, but we’ll see how things go for now. Also, Frey and Rana. Otou-san too. Put these on」

I gave the three of them throat microphones that were meant to be fastened around their necks.

「It looks like a collar, doesn’t it?」

Rana muttered cynically.

「Oh, is that so? Isn't it fashionable in its own way?」

「Ojou-sama, show a bit more prudence」

Frey had put it on without a care. Seeing that, Rana also put it on reluctantly. Otou-san also put it on with a look of distrust. I went a short distance away and tested the glasses’ communication function.

「Test, test, reply if you can hear me」

『Yeah, I can hear you』

『Oh, how interesting. I can hear you』

「Rana?」

『Yes, I can hear』

There were no problems with the equipment.

Well, after that is,

「Otou-san, err, that thing we talked about……」

「Yeah」

He thrust maps at me. They were maps of the 15th to 20th floor.

I chuckled to myself in my head.

I couldn’t have asked for more. It’ll be scary if the other parties found out about this.

「Excuse me for a moment」

I turned away from Otou-san and spread the maps on the floor. They were scanned and digitized by Yukikaze. The maps were exceedingly detailed. The shortest route, the ideal route, the types of enemies, and even how to fight them were recorded on them.

Rather than for his own use, these maps were meant to be shown to others.

『Scan completed. Displaying map』

A map was displayed on the LCD of the glasses.

『Which route do you want to take?』

「The shortest route」

『Understood』

The route was indicated on the map.

According to the maps, the average total length of a journey through all five floors is 20km. If we take the shortest route, it should be about 5km per floor.

From the horn-shaped structure of the Odoriji spire, the floors should become narrower the deeper one descends, but strangely enough, the floors become more expansive instead, and the maps become correspondingly bigger. It’s mysterious.

「Thank you very much, Otou-san. I’m returning them to you」

「Hah?」

Otou-san was surprised when I returned the maps to him.

「I’ve recorded them. I don’t need them any more」

「That’s a bit disturbing」

Letting him see that I was capable of this was a risk. But Otou-san was also taking a risk. He would probably not divulge anything.

「Ea, put these on」

「Huh, what’s this?」

I also gave my sister a glasses-type device.

「It allows communication and can display the map. The green dot is the party’s current location, and the red dots are enemies」

「Hmm~, does it look good on me?」

Ea had put on the glasses and was making a smug face.

「Yup, it really suits you」

I gave her a thumbs-up.

A younger sister with glasses. In its own way, it’s pretty great. She looks smart and her loveliness has been increased.

I felt a gaze, so I looked back, and Rana turned away in a huff.

Rana seems like she would also look good wearing glasses. She would become too perfect though[2].

「Lastly, Shuna, you normally charge out in front, but this time, leave it to Otou-san. The sword techniques of the father of adventurers. It should be educational. Watch closely」

「Got it」

Shuna agreed obediently.

Oh, but taking everything into account, Shuna has been obedient from the very beginning, I suppose.

I looked around at everyone in the party and decided that there were no problems.

「Let's go」

Now, let's head for the maniacal floor.

Will we find luck, or misfortune, or……?[3]

[1] Typically, reconnaissance is done using small, fast forces, but Reconnaissance in force(RIF) is a tactic of using a strong military force(tanks, armored vehicles and so on) to move in on enemy territory, and through the enemy’s reaction, reveal information on the enemy, like their strength, deployment, preparedness and so on, and then withdraw or engage depending on the situation. Thus, the F in RIF doesn’t mean “using force”, but “in a large force”, which is a common misconception people have. Though there is a variation of this tactic where hit-and-run tactics are used to probe for weaknesses, and then they can choose whether to withdraw or push the attack depending on whether weaknesses are found.

[2] Well, this is a tough one, as it’s a pop-culture term I’m not familiar with. So after tons of research, this appears to be a term, which has a negative connotation, that refers to a character with too many good attributes. In other words, it’s something like the Japanese version of “Mary Sue” or “Gary Stu”.

[3] The saying here translated literally is “will a demon appear or will a snake appear?” and means something similar to “it’s hard to predict the future/only god knows what will happen”. However, author is playing with the saying by going, “will a demon appear or will a snake appear, or(will something else appear)?” so I went along and translated it semi-literally. By the way, in this saying, the demon symbolizes misfortune and the snake symbolizes luck.

I laughed so hard at the dwarf blackmail. In case it was confusing, Medimu went ?, then Souya brought up the brothel subtly, then Medimu caved immediately.

Ea with glasses. I wanna see~.

Good news is, this is the last short chapter for quite a while. There goes my sleep though lol. But, we’ve got a long trek through the dungeon ahead of us. What’s going to happen?! Stay tuned!